Grapple assembly for backhoe unit

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a grapple assembly for a backhoe unit. The backhoe is of the type having a generally vertically extending boom which is pivotal about horizontal and vertical axes. The backhoe has a stick member pivotally connected to the boom and the grapple assembly is attached to the stick member. The grapple assembly comprises a pair of upper and lower jaws with the upper jaw being pivotally attached to the stick member and the lower jaw being fixedly attached to the stick member.

United-States Patent [191 La Bounty GRAPPLE ASSEMBLY FOR BACKHOE UNIT [76] Inventor: Roy E. La Bounty, 1607 8th Ave., 7

Two Harbors, Minn. 55616 [22] Filed: Sept. 11, 19172 [21] Appl. No.: 288,066

[52] US. Cl.. 294/88, 214/147 G, 294/104 I [51] Int. Cl. B660 3/16 [58] Field of Search 294/68, 69, 88, 104,- 105, 294/106, 107, 70; 37/183 R, 184, 186, 187;

214/147 R, 1476, 147 AS, 650 R, 653

[56] Q References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,517,960 6/1970, M'ark a a1. 294/70, 581,696 ,5/1897 fCubel 294/104 2,776,768 1/1957 Carlson' 214/147R 2,883,230 4/1959 Miller 294/88 \mmm"11111111111111 [4 1 Apr. 9, 1974 8/1962 Dwyer 214/147 G 3/1971 Pasquazzi et a1 214/147 R Primary Examiner-Even C. Blunk Assistant Examiner-Johnny D. Cherry Attorney, Agent, or Firm-11. Dale Palmatier; James R. Haller 57 ABSTRACT The invention relates to a grapple assembly for a backhoe unit. The backhoe is of the type having a generally vertically extending boom which is pivotal about horizontal and vertical axes. The backhoe has a stick member pivotally connected to the boom and the grapple assembly is attached to the stick member. The grapple assembly comprises a pair of upper and lower '7 jawswi'th the upper jaw being pivotally attached to the stick member and the lower jaw being fixedly attached to the stick member.

2 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures \lllllllll\llllllllllllllllllllll GRAPPLE ASSEMBLY-FOR BACKHOE UNIT I The invention relates to a new and improved grapple assembly for abackhoe unit.

The grapple assembly of the present invention, despite having a very simple construction, is an extremely efficient tool forknocking down walls and the like and for organizing and picking up rubble for transfer to a truck. 1 l

The prior-art method of clearing right-of-ways required a dozer, a front-end loader and several trucks. The same equipment is used for other site work, like clearing brush,'and demolition of condemned buildlIlgS.

For demolition and site clearing jobs, the grapple assembly of the present invention is fitted on the end of a backhoe boom-and literally tears the building apart with a series of huge bites with the grapple. Debris is the present invention proves to be just as profitable as it is at the building demolition site. Here the backhoeand grappleteam rake, pile, load and compress'grub bing, (roots, branches, stumps) of all shapes and sizes. Burning restrictions are in force in many areas and therefore the speed and efficiency with which it is possible to accumulate, load, and haul away grubbing is highly desirable. I

In bridge site preparation,.the positive control of a knuckle-boom backhoe, combined with the hand-like flexibility of the grapple, provide an efficient combination for handling rip-rap, which is the heavy. rock placedalong river banks to control erosion.

A; main object of the invention is to provide a new and improved grapple assembly for a backhoe unit. An-

. a 2 I 23 is pivotally attached to the swinghouse platform 15 so as to be pivotal in a conventional way about a horizontally extending axis. A doublenacting hydraulic cylinder-piston motor 26 is operable to control the pivotal movement of the boom assembly relative to a horizontal axis in any known and conventional manner.

A grapple assembly which comprises a stick member 30 and a pair of upper and lower jaws 32 and 34 has the inner end of the stick member pivotally attached to the outer end of the boom 23 for pivotal movement about a horizontally extending pivot axis 36. Pivot axis 36 is spaced somewhat from the inner end of the stick member 30 so as to constitute a fulcrum. and permit the stick member to function as a lever. A double acting hydraulic cylinder-piston motor 38 has. the piston rod 40 thereof pivotally connected to the inner end of the stick member 30; at a pivot axis 41 and the cylinder 42 thereof pivotally connected to the boom assembly leg 25 at a pivot axis 43. Motor 38 isoperable to control the pivotal movement of stick member 30 relative to the pivot axis 36. I

The grapple jaws 32 and 34 are attached to the outer end of the stick member 30 with the upper jaw 32 being pivotally attached for pivotal movement about a horizontal pivot axis 46 and the lowerjaw 34 beingfixedly attached to the stickmember 30. Upper jaw 32 is movother object of the invention is to provide a new and improved grapple assembly which is'simple in design and rugged in construction for expeditiously performing demolition and clearing operations.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will jaw of the grapple assembly; and

FIG.-4 is a perspective view of the upper movable jaw of the grapple assembly.

Referringto the drawing, there is shown in FIG. 1 a mobile vehicle 10 having endless tracks 12 and a swinghouse 14. The swingho'use assembly 14 has a platform I 1 5 which is mounted on a turntable 16 which in turn is mounted in any conventional way to the chassis. With this construction the swinghouse is rotatably movable inu conventional way relative to a vertically extending axis. The swinghouse assembly 14 includes a conventional cab 20, an engine 22, and a boom assembly 23 which comprises legs 24 and 25. The boom assembly connection.

able to any desired pivoted position through a double acting hydraulic cylinder-piston motor 48 and a pair of links 50 and 51' are provided to facilitate this operation. Links 50 and 51 are pivotally connected respectively to stick member 30 and jaw 32 at pivot points 54 and 55 and to each other at pivot point 58. The outer end of piston rod 60 of the motor 48 is pivotally connected to the pivot point 58 of the links 50 and 51 and the cylinder 62 of the motor is pivotally connectedto the, stick member 30 at a pivot point 64.

Lower jaw 34 extends ina generally normal direction relative to the end portionof stick member 30 to which it is fixedly attached. A strut 66 extends diagonally from the jaw 34 to the stick member and is fixedly attached in that position as by welding to provide a rigid The stationary grapple'jaw 34 shown in FIG. 3 is generally are shaped with spaced apart kidney shaped end plates 70 and 72 and similarly shaped intermediate ribs 74, 75 and 76. The movable grapple jaw 32 shown in FIG. 4 is generally similar in shape and construction to the stationary jaw 34 but has only two intermediate ribs and 81 between the end plates 82 and 83. Thisdifference permits an interleaving action of the ribs and end plates of. the jaw 32 with the ribs and end plates of the jaw 34 when the jaws are brought together by the operation.

In the operation of the grapple assembly the boom and stick can be readily maneuvered and manipulated by a skillful operator. As an alternative to the prior art wrecking method of striking walls to cause breaking and crumbling thereof, the stationary lower jaw 34 of the grapple assembly disclosed herein makes it feasible to also wreck a frame building by pulling it apart with bites. The bitten off portions are loaded directly into a load receiving vehicle without moving either the backhoe track 12 or said vehicle. Debris which falls to the ground is efficiently organized by raking the debris with sweepingstrokes in an outwardly direction from the backhoe with the tines of the stationary jaw 34. The raking process orientates the elongated portions of the debris to be parallel and thus efficiently facilitates the subsequent crushing and clamping of the material prior to its transfer to atruck.

ln packing rip rap along the banks of a river or canal for erosion control, the work can proceed from either the top or the bottom of a bank. The grapple assembly picks up and firmly holds large rocks in the course of precisely placing the rocks in desired locations and the assembly is also used to nudge rocks into positions to achieve even greater positioning accuracy.

The vision from the cab 20 is good and the mode of operation as described relative to removing debris from the ground is accomplished with little or no movement of the tracks 12. The top jaw crushes debris as it is closed but the providing of the stationary law 34 prevents the top jaw from ever digging into the ground as in some prior art equipment of this type. Loads are packed better because the debris is crushed down by the upper jaw 32 and the lower jaw 34 is easily manipulated to push debris around in a truck to settle the load and fill the corners.

The loading as described above is much more rapidly and efficiently accomplished than with a claw bucket hanging from a cable.

It is seen that'l have invented a new and improved backhoe grapple assembly which comprises a pair of upper and lower jaws with the-upper jaw being pivotally connected to the backhoe stick member and the lower jaw being fixidly attached to the stick member. The grapple assembly has a simple design and is extremely efficient in wrecking frame buildings by pulling it apart with bites. Debris which falls to the ground is efficiently orientated and organized by raking with the tines of the I stationary jaw which facilitates the efficient subsequent into a building to be demolished, the jaws including transfer of the debris to a load receiving vehicle.

I claim:

l. A grapple assembly for a backhoe of the type having a swinghouse, a boom on the swinghouse pivotal about horizontal and'vertical axes, and a forwardly extending stick member pivotally mounted on the boom for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis, the grapple assembly'comprising a stationary lower jaw rigidly attached substantially perpendicularly to the stick at the outer endof the stick, the lower jaw including arcuate tines oriented generally normal to the stick and extending downwardly and forwardly from the stick end, the tines terminating in tine ends oriented with respect to the stick to forwardly rake the ground as the tines are moved outwardly from the swinghouse', and a hydraulically powered upper jaw pivotally mounted to the stick member for pivoting about an axis normal to the length of the stick to close downwardly upon the lower jaw, the upper jaw having arcuate tines adapted to interleave at an acute included angle with the tines of the lower jaw to crush debris between the jaws, the lower jaw being the closest to the swinghouse when the upper jaw is closed on the lower jaw, and the jaws being openable forwardly to enable their tines to bite forwardly gripping plates along and between tines of each jaw to confine and crush debris in cooperation with the tines.

2. The grapple assembly of claim 1 wherein the upper jaw is pivotally mounted to the end of the stick member at the point of attachment of the lower jaw to the stick.

I! i I 

1. A grapple assembly for a backhoe of the type having a swinghouse, a boom on the swinghouse pivotal about horizontal and vertical axes, and a forwardly extending stick member pivotally mounted on the boom for pivotal movement about a horizontal axis, the grapple assembly comprising a stationary lower jaw rigidly attached substantially perpendicularly to the stick at the outer end of the stick, the lower jaw including arcuate tines oriented generally normal to the stick and extending downwardly and forwardly from the stick end, the tines terminating in tine ends oriented with respect to the stick to forwardly rake the ground as the tines are moved outwardly from the swinghouse; and a hydraulically powered upper jaw pivotally mounted to the stick member for pivoting about an axis normal to the length of the stick to close downwardly upon the lower jaw, the upper jaw having arcuate tines adapted to interleave at an acute included angle with the tines of the lower jaw to crush debris between the jaws, the lower jaw being the closest to the swinghouse when the upper jaw is closed on the lower jaw, and the jaws being openable forwardly to enable their tines to bite forwardly into a building to be demolished, the jaws including gripping plates along and between tines of each jaw to confine and crush debris in cooperation with the tines.
 2. The grapple assembly of claim 1 wherein the upper jaw is pivotally mounted to the end of the stick member at the point of attachment of the lower jaw to the stick. 